Trained at Johns Hopkins and Harvard Universities.

College, Medical school, residency, fellowship

Dr. Sean Heffernan earned his bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. During this time, he worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the Hubbard Lab at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where his interests in cell and molecular biology grew. He moved to New Orleans to attend Tulane University School of Medicine in 2005, arriving only weeks before Hurricane Katrina devastated the region. Upon his return to the rebuilding city, Dr. Heffernan realized the importance of proper mental health care as the stress of the situation amplified the toll of affective disorders and addictions.

He returned to Maryland in 2009 for medical internship at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and psychiatry residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Heffernan served as Chief Resident during his final year of training. In 2013, he graduated residency and was certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He spent the following year as the Ned H. Cassem, S.J., M.D. Honorary Fellow in Psychosomatic Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, the oldest and largest teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. During this year, he gained further expertise in the psychiatric aspects of medical illnesses and also had an integrated clinic in the Yawkey Center for Cancer Care.

Dr. Heffernan was the Alexander Wilson Schweizer Clinical Fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital for 2014-2015, where he received specialty training in diagnosis and treatment of difficult-to-treat mood disorders under mentorship of Dr. Karen Swartz, M.D. and JHH Psychiatrist-in-Chief Dr. J. Raymond DePaulo Jr., M.D. Now an Assistant Professor in the JHH Department of Psychiatry, he continues to see patients in the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Consultation Clinic. He also has an appointment as a Consulting Physician at Anne Arundel Medical Center of Annapolis.

Scholarship

Through training, Dr. Heffernan has consistently devoted time and effort to academic exploration and publication. He has authored or co-authored six textbook chapters, including the Psycho-oncology chapter of the upcoming tenth edition of Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. He has also published original research articles in peer-reviewed journals. He serves an editorial role with the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine.

Dr. Heffernan has been an active instructor and educator. He has presented at several international conferences and held numerous institutional seminars at both Johns Hopkins and Massachusetts General Hospitals. Dr. Heffernan has also provided classroom and clinical instruction of medical students and resident trainees.